Finally a Pepper Seedling!!!

Howdy,

Welcome to my Dubai based container vegetable gardening blog.

Well., a bell pepper seedling has finally popped out of the soil!!!  It has been 6 weeks since I started the seeds in my propagating bags.  Some of the seeds sprouted in the bags about 4 weeks ago and so I planted them in peat pots but of the 10 I planted only one came up.  Since the deadly Bulbuls like to munch on helpless freshly sprouted pepper seedlings I have had to put it under Protective Custody.

The Varmints Return!!!

Howdy,

Welcome to my UAE based container vegetable gardening blog.

Regular readers will know of my ongoing battle with a particluar varmint - the Bulbuls!!!  I guess I am incorrect in saying that they have returned - they never really left - I just haven't had any vegetables growing for the past six months for them to feast upon!  I can always hear them talking to each other whenever I appear in the yard - perhaps their early warning system.  Approximately 3-4 families have been multiplying in my neighbour's rather thick neem tree.  And they are extremely happy over there because they can come over to my place - have breakfast, lunch, dinner and between meals snacks anytime I am not around discouraging them and then fly back to safe haven next door.  I just transfered my pepper plant to the back of the house 2 days ago and yesterday morning found that they have already started snacking on the few small fruits desperately trying to mature!!!  Well, I have a new secret weapon that I am hoping will permantly elimate my Bulbul problem!!!

Bulbuls-2 / Bubba-0

Howdy,

Well, it's official - Bulbuls are smarter than pigeons!   Sorry, Carol & Amanda but the snake thing did not work for me with the Bulbuls.  They were not more than 30cm away from one of the rubber snakes having a Bulbul Buffet on my few remaing cherry tamaters!!!  It might be scaring other birds but the other birds are not feasting themselves on my tamaters.  So, I guess I was premature in giving myself points. 

I was even changing the postions of the snakes whenever I would walk by so as to fool them.  But, who is the fool now!  I learned more today - Bulbuls are Pakistani - well at least that's what the Pakistani guys said who were laying down some interlocking at the house today.  They had a good laugh about my snakes!  I'm glad somebody found some humor over the outcome! :-( 

Take Care!

Bubba

Varmits!!! Cont.

Howdy,

Well it's at it again!  It got another tomato and wipe out my entire bell pepper crop - all two of them!!!  I have however noticed it knows the difference between sweet and chili peppers - hasn't touch the chili peppers of course!

Varmints!!!

Howdy and welcome to my blog,

What are Varmints you ask?   Varmints are unwanted critters that are doing something you can't abide too!   I got one that was a eat'en my pepper seedlings till I came up with a solution and now it's a eat'en my vegetables!!!  At first it was a eat'en my wife's petunias seedling's (I'd seen with my own eyes) so she found on the Internet a site that suggested put'in aluminum foil on sticks and put'in that next to the plants because varmints do not like shinning things.  Well, this varmint after a week or so got use to it and I swear I saw it admiring it's reflection in the foil while munch'in on her petunias seedlings!!!   Then it decided to make a meal out of my pepper seedlings just after they came shooting out the dirt.  So what did I do?

I came up with this solution for protecting my seedlings until they get big enough to transplant.